Rams look forward to climb

Mayde Creek encouraged by solid postseason run in spring

Published 3:08 pm, Tuesday, June 16, 2015

It's a big offseason for Mayde Creek.

After making the softball playoffs for the first time in 10 years, the Rams are gearing up to make another run, and hopefully establish their program as a perennial playoff contender in loaded District 19-6A.

"It will set a tone for the next couple of years for us, so this group of seniors definitely left their mark," coach Jill Voss said. "They made a big impact. It was our goal, and we had a motto at the beginning of the year, 'Working today for May,' and it just so happened the first playoff game was May 1."

They didn't settle for making the playoffs either.

The Rams eliminated Lamar 15-1, 6-5 in the bi-district playoffs to win their first playoff round in 11 years. They finally fell in three games to Cypress Ranch in the area round.

They won the opener 2-1 before falling 16-2 and 9-6.

"My goal was to get them to not settle just for making the playoffs, so we came out real strong against Lamar in the first game and set the tone," Voss said.

Pitcher Ashley Kriesel played a big part in their success, and the first-team all-district pitcher will be back as a senior next year.

"She definitely dominated on the mound, which helped us tremendously," Voss said.

Second baseman Robin Warren and center fielder Elizabeth Glancy, who graduated this month, also made the all-district first team. Warren moved from third to second to strengthen the right side of Mayde Creek's defense, which was tested often because of Kriesel's velocity, and Glancy sported an .800 batting average the first half of district.